Horse-detacher



N0. 609,|94. Patented Aug. l6, I898. J. E. BERKSTRESSEH.

HORSE DETAGHEB.

(Application filed Apr. 20, 1898.) (No Model.)

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JOHN EMORY BERKSTRESSER, OF SYLACAUGA, ALABAMA.

HO'RSE-DETAQH ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Iatent No. 609,194, dated August16, 1898. Application filed April 20, 1898. Serial No. 678,260. (Nonodal.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN EMORY BERK- STRESSER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Sylacauga, in the county of Talladega and State ofAlabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHorse-Detachers, of which the following is a full and completespecification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same. A r i This invention relatestodetaching devices for releasing a horse froma carriage or'oth'ervehicle; and the object thereofis to provide an improved device of thisclass whereby a horse may be quickly and easily released from a vehiclewhenever necessary or when the horse becomes vicious and kicks orattempts to run away..

The invention is an improvement on that described and claimed in UnitedStates Pat-' ent No. 554,905, granted to me February 18, 1896, and isfully disclosed in the following specification, of which theaccompanying drawings form a part, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view ofone of the shafts of a vehicle and showing my improved detaching deviceconnected therewith; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section of the detachingdevice; Fig. 3, a plan view thereof, and Fig. 4 a section on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

In the drawings forming part of this specification the separate parts ofmy improvement are designated by the same numerals of reference in eachof the views, and in the practice of my invention I provide a plate 5,which may be secured to the upper side of the shaft 6 of a vehicle inany desired manner and which in practice is preferably secured to theshaft about twenty inches in front of the cross-bar 7 by means of whichthe two shafts are connected, and it will be understood that one ofthese devices is secured to each shaft. 1

The plate 5 is provided about centrally thereof with a rectangular hole8, formed vertically therein, and the rear portion of said plate is cutout longitudinally to form a central longitudinal groove 9, whichcommuni cates with the hole or opening 8, and secured in the top of saidgroove is aplate-spring 10,

the free end of which projects across said hole or opening and is bentupwardly, as shown at 11. V

Secured to or formed on the upper side of the plate 5, rearwardly of thehole or opening 8, are two uprights or bearings 12, through which ispassed a longitudinally-movable bolt 13, and wound on said bolt betweensaid uprights or bearings is a spiral spring 14, the front end of whichbears on a disk or plate 15, secured to said bolt, and the rear end of-which bears on the rear upright or bearing 12: This spring is intendedto force the bolt 13 forwardly, and the forward end of said boltp'rojectsin its normal position over the hole or opening 8 at apredetermined distance above the plate 5.

The disk 15, secured to the bolt 13, is not essential and may bedispensed with, all that is necessary in this connection being to securethe front end of the spring 14 to the bolt, so that it will project saidbolt forwardly, and connected with said bolt inside of the forwardupright or bearing 12 is a link or similar attaching device 16 withwhichin practice the detaching-line is connected.

I also provide a longitudinal casing 17, which is fiat 'on the underside and preferably circular in cross-section on the upper side, and thelongitudinal chamber 18 in said casing opens forwardly, and the rear endthereof is preferably closed, and secured to or formed on the bottom ofthe rear end of said casing is a backwardly-directed arm 19,

which is provided atits rear end with a downwardly-directed head 20,which in practice enters the hole or opening 8, so that the inner sidethereof will engage with the upper inner wall of the hole or opening 8,as shown at21.

The casing 17 is provided at one side with a staple, link, or similardevice 22, which serves as means for attaching the breech- -straps ofthe harness, and this link or staple of the staple 22 is a strong spiralspring 26. The outer end of the shaft 24 is provided with a head 27,which may be of any desired form and is intended as a trace-attachingdevice, and in practice the traces on the opposite sides of the harnessare connected with the shafts 24 or with the heads 27 thereof, as willbe readily understood, and with this form of construction the springs26, one of which is mounted in each of the detachable devices or thecasings 17 thereof, serve to relieve the shank of the rigid pull or jerkby the horse, thereby giving an easier motion to the vehicle.

The plate 5 is provided at its forward end and at the opposite sideswith projecting lugs 28, and secured to the bottom of the casing 17,near the forward end thereof, is a transverse plate 29, and, as will beunderstood, the casing 17 may be connected with the plate 5 by drawingback the bolt 13 and then passing the ends of the projecting plate 29under the lugs or projections 28 and depressing the rear end of saidcasing 17 until the head 20 of the arm 19 enters the angular hole oropening 8 in said plate. In this position of the parts the head 20strikes the forward end of the spring 10 and depresses it, and the bolt13 is then released, and the forward end thereof passes over the arm 19,as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and the casing 17 is secured to the plate 5.

Whenever it is necessary to detach the horse, the detaching-lines, whichin practice are connected with the links 16 and which are not shown, arepulled. This operation draws backwardly the bolts 13, and the spring 10throws up the arm 19 until the head 20 thereof is raised above the uppersurface of the plate 5 and the casings 17 are drawn off of said plates.

The plate 5 is also provided on the upper surface thereof and at eachside of the hole or opening 8 with upwardly-directed shoulders orprojections 30, between which the arm 19 projects; but these lugs orprojections are not absolutely essential and may or may not be employed,and other changes in and modifications of the construction hereindescribed may be made without departing from the spirit of my inventionor sacrificing its advantages.

My improved detaching device is simple in construction and operation andperfectly adapted to accomplish the result for which it is intended,while being also comparatively inexpensive.

Having fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. A horse-detaching device, comprising a plate whichis adapted to be secured to the shaft of the vehicle, said plate beingprovided centrally thereof with an angular hole or opening, at the rearofwhich is a longitudinal groove which communicates therewith, a springmounted in said groove and the forward end of which projects across saidhole or opening, a spring-operated bolt mounted over the rear end ofsaid plate and adapted to be projected over said hole or opening, and adetachable longitudinal casing provided at its rear end with abackwardly-directed arm on which is formed a downwardlydirected head,and a spring-operated traceattaching device mounted in said detachablecasing, substantially as described.

2. A horse-detaching device, comprising a plate which is adapted to besecured to the shaft of the vehicle, said plate being provided centrallythereof with an angularhole or opening, at the rear of which is alongitudinal groove which communicates therewith, a spring mounted insaid groove and the forward end of which projects across said hole oropening, a spring-operated bolt mounted over the rear end of said plateand adapted to be projected over said hole or opening,

and a detachable longitudinal casing provided at its rear end with abackwardly-directed arm on which is formed a downwardlydirected head,and a spring-operated traceattaching device mounted in said detachablecasing, said plate being provided at the opposite side of its forwardend with projecting lugs, and said detachable casin g with a transverseplate which is secured to the bottom thereof, substantially asdescribed.

3. A horse-detaching device consisting of a plate which is adapted to besecured to the shaft of the vehicle, said plate being provided centrallythereof with an angular hole or opening, and the rear end of said platebeing provided with a spring which projects across said hole or opening,a spring-operated bolt mounted longitudinally over the rear end of saidplate and adapted to be projected over said hole or opening and providedwith means for connecting the detaching-line therewith, and an oblongdetachable casing provided at its rear end with a projecting arm havinga downwardly-directed head, said casing being provided with alongitudinally-movable spring-operated shaft which is mounted therein,and with which a trace maybe connected, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname, in presence of the subscribing witnesses, this 14th day of April,1898.

JOHN EMORY BERKSTRESSER.

lVitnesses:

STEPHEN DOUGLAS LOGAN, bro. 1?. KENNEDY.

